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UCL Urban Laboratory

UCL Urban Laboratory

exploring new methods of urban research across disciplinary boundaries

UCL Urban Laboratory

critical, independent, rigorous and original scholarship on cities

UCL Urban Laboratory

leading urban debate and the design and planning
of contemporary cities

UCL Urban Laboratory

engaging with London and its communities

UCL Urban Laboratory

developing international networks and
comparisons in urban research and action

UCL Urban Laboratory

drawing on UCL’s heritage of pioneering
urbanism

UCL Urban Laboratory

critical and creative urban thinking, teaching, research, practice

News

Interim research findings: university spatial development and urban regeneration

Publication date:
26 March 2015

New
university developments are moving away from out of town campuses and focusing
on integrated urban sites with good access to amenities and affordable housing.
There are also high expectations of universities to lead the way in realising
flagship developments which exemplify best practice in urban design,
environmental and social sustainability. But universities are complex
organisations and such projects require strong leadership, good communications,
and solid financial underpinning to be successful.

Urban Pamphleteer is 'Magazine of the Week' on MagCulture

Matthew Gandy wins 2014 Meridian Book Award for ‘innovative’ The Fabric of Space

Publication date:
20 March 2015

Matthew Gandy, Professor of Geography and former Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory (2005-11), has been awarded the 2014 AAG Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography for his book The Fabric of Space: Water, Modernity, and the Urban Imagination.

Call for Papers: Cyborg Cities and Urban Resilience

Publication date:
18 March 2015

How
can we engage with the dynamic and boundary-breaking role of technology
and infrastructure in the Cyborg City within the context of global city
region resilience? Cities have long embodied cyborg attributes with
their complex interplay of socio-political, physical and digital
infrastructures. Yet despite scholarly recognition of the fluid and
constantly changing human-technology interface in ‘big infrastructure’
cyborg debates (smart grids, smart meters, public Wifi, national
broadband networks and ‘big data’), policy and industry commentary on
cyborg relations places clear demarcations between the social and the
technical. Bringing an understanding of this dynamism and tension to
contemporary city and infrastructure debates is critical if we are to
understand, prepare for and develop new relations and adaptations in the
cyborg city, particularly when systems are threatened or break down.

DPU summerLab 2014 pamphlet now available

Publication date:
18 February 2015

Each summer the DPU summerLab hosts a workshop series in cities around the world – seeking to stimulate and provoke a reconsideration of the role of designers in promoting spatial justice. Now, the 2014 series pamphlet is available online. You can download the document (pdf) for free or read the document on issuu.

Call for Papers: Urban Lab+ London Symposium 2015

Global Urban Higher Education: the challenges and potentials of internationalisation

Call for Proposals: Open Source Housing crisis

Publication date:
3 February 2015

ContextWith a shortfall of 100,000 units per year and a decline in the availability of social tenancies, London's developers and housing associations add to the already considerable cost of housing by charging for the service of organising groups of people with the common need of accommodation. Those in need are often forced to accept precarious dwelling conditions, in buildings that are poorly designed, cheaply constructed and disadvantageously financed. The political and financial structures, such as the mis-alignment of average wages to the GLA’s interpretations of ‘affordability’ and predominance of insecure tenancies, that fuel London’s housing crisis continue to evolve beneath the radar of public scrutiny. ActionWe are convening a workshop concerned to scope communication technologies with potential to disrupt these conditions. This workshop is concerned with the design of network-based tools that would nurture a many-to-many approach to 1) better understanding and engagement with policy changes and relevant expertise; 2) experimenting with alternative models that destabalise the central role of the developer / housing association in decision making about the future of housing in London.

OutcomeThe outcome of this workshop will be a special issue of the Urban Pamphleteer. Our starting vision for this is a catalogue of transformative tools, tactics, and ideas from a variety of perspectives featuring contributions by select workshop participants. Urban Pamphleteer is a series of publications that confront key contemporary urban questions from diverse perspectives. Issues are distributed for free in print and digitally. Urban Pamphleteer is a collaboration between Central Saint Martins and the UCL Urban Laboratory. ParticipateThe workshop takes place on 13 March 2015 (10.00-16.30) at Central Saint Martins in the Graphic Communication Design studios and runs as part of CSM's Restless Futures Events Series. Confirmed participants so far include Joel Gethin Lewis, Adam Greenfield, and Dawn Foster. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, but please note that we are unable to cover additional costs.

We would like to hear from anyone who thinks they might have a contribution to make to this workshop. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to Shauna Scott (s.scott@csm.arts.ac.uk) and include a 100 word expression of interest that indicates something about your background and reason for wanting to get involved by 16 February. We will select approximately 18 participants representing a wide range of concerns and disciplines. We want this discussion to be highly interdisciplinary and we encourage participation from a wide range of fields, professions and community groups.

How Ruth Glass shaped the way we approach our cities

Publication date:
13 January 2015

In her carefully crafted introduction to the book London: Aspects of Change in 1964, the urban sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term ‘gentrification’. The term, referring to demographic shifts within an urban community, subsequently spawned an extensive and ever-growing field of
urban research and debate.

No regrets for police officer 'graffiti artists love to hate'

Publication date:
19 December 2014

The Guardian report from the recent Graffiti Sessions conference hosted by Urban Lab and the Graffiti Dialogues Network at Central Saint Martins, with an article highlighting DC Colin Saysell's presentation on the first day.

Matthew Gandy's 'The Fabric of Space' published by MIT Press

Clare Melhuish runs workshop at Engage 2014 conference

Publication date:
1 December 2014

Clare Melhuish (Urban Lab Research Associate) joins forces with Kim Townsend, UCL's Public Engagement Co-Ordinator (East), Andy Karvonen, Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Manchester, and Sam Wilkinson, Director of InSite Arts, to run a workshop at the Engage 2014 conference in Bristol on Wednesday 3 December, from 2-3pm.

Graffiti Sessions launches this December

Publication date:
28 November 2014

Graffiti
Sessions is a three day event that welcomes authorities, academics, policy
makers, artists, writers, community members and urban managers to come together
in order to question value, creativity and control in relation to street art
and graffiti.

Urban Pamphleteer #4: Doha Launch

Publication date:
18 November 2014

The potential role of higher education in ‘activating’ city
centres all over the world, as opposed to generating conflict between ‘town and
gown’, was highlighted at the launch on Sunday of UCL Urban Laboratory’s Urban
Pamphleteer #4, dedicated to issues around the rapid redevelopment
of the historic centre of Doha, Qatar. The event, held at Doha’s most
recognizable landmark, the Museum of Islamic Art, concluded with a presentation
from Tim Makower, a British architect based in London and Doha, who stated
‘there is a real opportunity for higher education to activate old Doha.
Experience tells us that urban mixed use, cultural heritage, and education are
mutually beneficial’.

Amit Chaudhuri to mark launch of Cities Imaginaries with lecture on 'The New Provinces'

Cities Methodologies 2014

Publication date:
2 October 2014

We are pleased to announce the programme of events for Cities Methodologies 2014. Led by UCL Urban Laboratory, Cities Methodologies is an ongoing
programme of events and exhibitions dedicated to presenting, sharing and
experimenting with new methods of urban research. Click on the image to view the programme (pdf).